St. John City Guide

St John is the smallest of the US Virgin islands. This island known for its rocky coastline, white sand beaches and stunning bays is a favored vacation destination for holiday makers who cherish peace and tranquility in a stunning setting. Much of St John is today a national park, reputed to be a paradise for nature lovers for it offers miles of hiking trails, lush forests, secluded coves and reefs and shimmering white sand beaches. The pace on St John is definitely laid back and as some frequent travelers state ‘sleepy.’

The history of St John can be traced back to the 18th century, when Danish immigrants arrived on this remote island paradise and established sugarcane plantations here. However these plantations went into decline after the abolition of slavery in the mid-19th century and in 1917 the US purchased St John from Denmark. News of the pristine beauty of the island began to spread and the island soon became a choice vacation destination.

In 1956, much of the land on St John was purchased by Laurence Rockefeller, who then went on to gift it as park land to the US Government in an effort to preserve its pristine loveliness. St John continues to remain a relatively untouched paradise until today, which largely attracts nature loving vacationers who wish for a beach vacation without the trappings of modern day commercialization.

Cruz Bay is the main urban settlement on St John and if you are a vacationer who enjoys having modern day conveniences like bars, restaurants and shopping close at hand, then chances are you will elect to stay at a resort hotel located in Cruz Bay.

This is a smaller settlement located on the East End of the island that also offers accommodation options along with bars, shops, restaurants and a wide array of water sports.

The Virgin Islands national park occupies much of the island and encompasses many beautiful bays like Cinnamon Bay and Maho Bay, both of which are equipped with camping facilities and offer water sports on their sandy beaches.

The island paradise of St John offers a few sight-seeing options and visitors often choose to book taxi tours that are available for various durations to take in the few sights available on the island.

The Virgin Islands National Park is St John’s star attraction. This park extends over 12,624 acres of the island and adjacent underwater sites offer a plethora of historical, cultural and geographical attractions.

Located within the park on Leinster Bay Road are the ruins of the Annaberg plantation. This plantation and sugar mill was once a thriving commercial enterprise which was established by the Danes in 1718. Another point of interest is the Fort Berg in Coral Bay which served as a base for soldiers who crushed a slave uprising in 1733. The Park Rangers usually offer guided tours of these historical sites for visitors.

Other popular attractions in the park include sites like Trunk Bay, rumored to be most beautiful beach in the world and the petroglypghs carved into the Reef Bay hiking trail that offer much information about the indigenous Taino people who inhabited the island before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

The park also hosts the Virgin Islands Coral Reef monument which can be accessed at a spot called Hurricane Hole. This area is located at the south end of the island encompasses 12,708 acres of land which lies beneath the water’s surface that contains an eco-system made up of coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrass beds.

The Virgin Islands National Park offers an assortment of hiking trails and if you enjoy active pursuits while on vacation then these hiking trails present an ideal outlet for your energy. One of the most popular hiking trails on St John is the Ram Head Trail that extends over 1.5 miles and originates at Salt Pond Bay beach. The trail hugs the shoreline and passes by way of the stunning Blue Cobblestone beach until it winds up a hillside and ends at an outcrop that is located 60 meters above the cerulean waters of the Caribbean Sea. The trail offers ample opportunity to enjoy the unique flora and fauna of the island and is a definite must do for natural lovers vacationing on the island.

The US Virgin Islands have a subtropical climate that is characterized by hot and humid weather for much of the year. This scorching heat that prevails year round is somewhat tempered by the sea breezes though the island also experiences a rainy season that extends from September to November. Most vacationers tend to book vacations to St John between the months of December to April when much of the northern hemisphere experiences frigid winter climes. If you are a diving or snorkeling enthusiast, you may perhaps want to consider a vacation in St John during the months of April and August, for at this time, the sea is usually relatively calm and offers greater underwater visibility.

St John doesn’t have its own airport so most vacationers fly into St Thomas’ Cyril E King airport and then take a ferry from St Thomas to access St John. This intra-island ferry ride usually takes 20 minutes and transports holiday makers to Cruz Bay, which is the main urban settlement on St John.

Public transport on St John is provided by a bus service called Vitran (which also operated buses on St Thomas) and taxis. Taxis on St John are usually hailed on the street though you can even call for one when the need arises. Most visitors who book vacations to St John however elect to hire a car or a four wheel drive for the duration of their stay on the island. Renting a car on St John gives you the flexibility to explore the island as and when you please though you have to be aware that driving rules on the island require you to drive on the left and strictly follow speed limits that are posted along the roads.

If you are desirous of renting a car for your St. John vacation, you may want to check with Fare Buzz before you make your car rental reservation, for Fare Buzz offers a wide array of affordable car rentals for St John which can be booked via its regular travel booking platforms.

The tiny island community of St John surprisingly does offer a few shopping options to the delight of enthusiastic shoppers who choose to vacation on the island. The island’s main hub of commercial activity, Cruz Bay offers a good assortment of shopping options at its locales like Mongoose Junction (located near the Virgin Islands National Park’s visitor center), Wharf side Village, Lumberyard Complex and the Marketplace on South Shore Road. The best shopping bets on St John include paintings, sculptures, ceramics and jewelry created by local artists.

St John is equipped with many upscale restaurants, which are located within its various high-end hotel resorts. However the island also offers a few, local stand-alone restaurants which are definitely worth sampling on any visit to the island. Some popular restaurants on St John include eateries like Paradiso, the Fish Trap Restaurant, La Plancha del Mar, Windy Level, Duffy’s Love Shack and Sweet Plantains Restaurant, Rhum Bar and Spice Shop.

The nightlife scene on St John given its laidback, almost ‘sleepy’ ambience is definitely more low key than that on its sister island of St Thomas. Most of the bars and clubs on St John are local establishments which have a definite Caribbean air about them as they specialize in good food and great live music (especially reggae bands).

The nightlife haunts in St John are concentrated on its urban centers of Cruz Bay and Coral Bay and popular joints located here include Duffy’s Love Shack, Woody’s, the Beach Bar, the Quiet Mon Pub ( Cruz Bay) and Island Blues, Skinny Legs, Shipwreck Landing( Coral Bay).